Big Price differences of Blu-rays in different Countries

[Stephan.klose]

I was curious about how different the price structure of Blu Ray's in different countries is. So I took a current title "Rambo" and compared. Here is what I found (Conversion Rates and Prices from 11.07.2008

amazon.com: $22,95 €14,44 Link to product at amazon.com
amazon.co.uk: $35,75 €22,70 Link to product at amazon.co.uk
amazon.de $52,42 €32,99 Link to product at amazon.de


Even if you take in account the shipping costs. For me it would be $6 when ordering from the US. (Which I mostly do). There is still a huge price difference.

Do you check out a lot of stores before buying something? I would because the differences in prices are mindblowing!

What do you people from outside the US think? Aren't we treated kind of as 2nd class customers?

[Bullseye]

Of course. On average we are paying twice as much as our American friends.

[Scorxpion]

FOX AND SONY titles:

Catalog titles each one will cost you around $35

THE new releases will cost me around $45

from now and on waiting on special discount and buy two get one free.They did it once in my country and i did buy a lot from sony titles.FOX remaining the same i dont know why.........But i'm using a plan

when my friend go outside in emirates Dubai the cost is around 35 for new and 30 for catalog titles or else i bought them from Canada.

Lately i found the fifth element remastered version and some of Warner Bros titles but you are not going to believe how much will it cost you

45 and 40 US dollars.But i'm buying titles i want not everything

[Kinslayer]

L2Shop on Ebay

[Hanzaki]

In Hungary the usual BD price is in between 60-70$...
I don't think they are selling many...

All my friends including me are buying BDs from the US or the UK (because of the stupid region coding...).

[Stephan.klose]

Originally Posted by Bullseye

Of course. On average we are paying twice as much as our American friends.

Which is preposterous because the production costs are the same

[Stephan.klose]

Originally Posted by Hanzaki

In Hungary the usual BD price is in between 60-70$...
I don't think they are selling many...

All my friends including me are buying BDs from the US or the UK (because of the stupid region coding...).

That's even more expensive than here in austria. Not by a lot though.

[MarekM]

Originally Posted by Hanzaki

In Hungary the usual BD price is in between 60-70$...
I don't think they are selling many...

All my friends including me are buying BDs from the US or the UK (because of the stupid region coding...).

almost same in Slovakia
from 52$ up to 78$, but it's also a result of stronger domestic currency against us $, last year it was something like from 38$ up to 60$

Marek

[MarekM]

Originally Posted by Stephan.klose

Which is preposterous because the production costs are the same

I am not that sure if production costs are same !
You just have to accept that almost everything is much cheaper in US,
from cars to electronics

Marek

[Buffalo MX]

I give you the prices in Monterrey Mexico (where I live) long live amazon and internet

I use todays rate exchange of 10.40 pesos for 1 USD

[JR8300]

Originally Posted by Stephan.klose

Which is preposterous because the production costs are the same

umm your dollar is worth double the American dollar...you are tech paying the same price

meaning if our dollar is half as strong and your dollar is twice as strong then double US price would equal EUR price....I think that makes perfect sense. Why would a company charge you the same price as Americans? They would be losing money...lots of money

How much to you pay for rent and heathcare in EUR? You'll see a pattern the US economy is very bad

[Konrad]

I give you an example from Europe:

Dirty Harry 1 - 5 available only as individual releases @ 30.95 Euros each (amazon.de). All 5 films will make you 155 Euros (equals 247 US Dollars) lighter. The Dirty Harry Ultimate Collector's Edition containing all 5 films stands at 87.95 Dollars in the US (amazon.com price, they always deduct a 5% discount, so actual price would be a little more than 83 Dollars). Now I admit you get an individual Blu-ray case for each film and you need not buy all 5 films in Europe. But if you want only two of them you already pay significantly more (approx USD 102.00) than for the whole collection in the US.

I live in the very heart of Europe and I only own a region A player. Even with customs fees and UPS Express delivery which takes only two days I pay less than I would here in Europe.

[david2189]

i didnt know the uk price was actually good compared to some other countries :x but yeh its absolutely ridiculous, the formats not going to last long outside the US if they keep this up thats for sure.

[Konrad]

Originally Posted by david2189

i didnt know the uk price was actually good compared to some other countries :x but yeh its absolutely ridiculous, the formats not going to last long outside the US if they keep this up thats for sure.

You are right, in the UK prices are lower than on the continent. Maybe because there is no extra production cost due to the different language versions. I personally dislike the "fat" cases UK Blu-ray releases come in. However, I disagree with your conclusion that the format might not survive outside of the US. There is also a significant price differential with DVDs and people are buying them. We are used to higher prices. Take the gas price as an example. I think there would be riots in the US if they had only nearly to pay as much as we do here.

[PoLskA]

i thought we paid alot here in the US...
geez... i feel bad for you guys...

Marcin

[richieb1971]

On the region free titles I Can trade them in for more than I bought them for in the UK. They give me £11 or so per movie. But because I buy 6-10 movies at a time from the USA I am getting cheaper shipping. Meaning in some cases I can turn over a small profit.

Personally I think the pricing is a scandal. To make something mass market you need to start at mass market pricing. The US pricing structure proves that it can be done today if necessary. If I were a CEO of the UK division of Sony I would have gotten Blu's into twice as many homes right now. It might not be a good business move on the surface of things, but the Nintendo Wii has proven word of mouth kicks major ass. The most expensive blu ray should be £12.

[Stephan.klose]

Originally Posted by MarekM

I am not that sure if production costs are same !
You just have to accept that almost everything is much cheaper in US,
from cars to electronics

Marek

Yeah but the cost of producing it is still the same. The Blu Rays are pressed in the same labs as the US versions. It's just that they have a way bigger margin in Europe. It's the same with everything. An Ipod 8 GB costs 189€ over here. Which is about $301. In the US the same product, produced in the same factory costs about $170. Explain that.

[Stephan.klose]

Originally Posted by Buffalo MX

I give you the prices in Monterrey Mexico (where I live) long live amazon and internet

I use todays rate exchange of 10.40 pesos for 1 USD

I actually thought that everything is cheaper in mexico? I guess I was wrong

[Stephan.klose]

Originally Posted by Konrad

You are right, in the UK prices are lower than on the continent. Maybe because there is no extra production cost due to the different language versions. I personally dislike the "fat" cases UK Blu-ray releases come in. However, I disagree with your conclusion that the format might not survive outside of the US. There is also a significant price differential with DVDs and people are buying them. We are used to higher prices. Take the gas price as an example. I think there would be riots in the US if they had only nearly to pay as much as we do here.

You are totally right. I think blu ray will survive. Also americans are already complaining about gas prices. Yet we pay 3!!! times what they pay. In a few weeks we actually pay 4 times of what they pay. If they'd to pay what we do they couldn't hold the country together

[Stephan.klose]

Originally Posted by richieb1971

On the region free titles I Can trade them in for more than I bought them for in the UK. They give me £11 or so per movie. But because I buy 6-10 movies at a time from the USA I am getting cheaper shipping. Meaning in some cases I can turn over a small profit.

Personally I think the pricing is a scandal. To make something mass market you need to start at mass market pricing. The US pricing structure proves that it can be done today if necessary. If I were a CEO of the UK division of Sony I would have gotten Blu's into twice as many homes right now. It might not be a good business move on the surface of things, but the Nintendo Wii has proven word of mouth kicks major ass. The most expensive blu ray should be £12.

Don't you have to pay massive import taxes if you order 6-10 movies? I always order 1 or 2 movies so that I circumvent import tax